Huntsville gazette., 1887-06-04
THE CASHIERS STORY.
"A Thrilling Bank Adventure In
Olden Times.

l am an old bank. cashier-country
bank ify you please. I began work in
that situation nearly thirty years ago,
and the changes in our bank since that
date have been few and far between.
Some of the old men have been re-
placed-we have increased our capital
we have a vault with a time lock-
the directors room has been refur-
nished once or twice, but we have never
aspired to the frills and scallops of your
city banks. However, we have had our
adventures with burglars, sneaks and
bogus draft men. and the city bank
cashier can teach me nothing new
about raised checks, counterfeit bills or
sharpers of any grade. l got my eyes
open very early, and there was an adj
venture in it which may interest the
reading public. Our bank was estab-
lihsed when the now thriving city of
R-was only town of two thousand
five hundred population. In those far
back days we had nothing like the pres
ent burglar and fire-proof safes. The
bank, which was two-story building
with a cellar, had sort of box made of
iron, and this was inclosed in brick
work in the cellar and called vault.
A lock with key weighing half a
pound was riveted to the iron door, and
when the job was finished we all felt
perfectly safe and secure. There was
a stairway from the cashiers room, and
every night the money used to be taken
down to the vault and every morning
brought up again. Before leaving the
bank it was my duty to see that the
vault door was locked, and then hid
the key behind loose brick in the eel
lar wall The bank cellar was used
only to store the wood required for our
two stoves during cold weather, and its
two windows were secured by iron
shutters which bolted inside. As we
built the bank building other parties
built store and they were allowed to
use our wall to save expense. Thus,
from cellar bottom to roof there was
only a single wall dividing us, and
above the wall that was only of brick,
and foot thick.
The bank had been doing business
about a year when the merchant who
occupied the store failed in business
and the building stood empty for sew
eral weeks. At length it was
rented again, and this time by a man
who gave out that he was an agent for
some Eastern machinery manufac-
turers. He ran partition across the
store to make an office in front, he got
a desk, hung up some maps and ad-
vertising cards, and announced that he
would soon. be supplied with sample
machinery. Q He did not put out any
sign, and as he did not seem interested
in cultivating the acquaintance Of the
townspeople his presence was soon
almost forgotten. He seemed morose
and unsocial. People have laid the
same charge at my own door. You
may, therefore, think it singular that
James Dowd, the new conner. and 1
were soon acquainted, and that / had
decided liking for him. Perhaps this
was because he had deposited seven
hundred dollars with us almost as soon
as he reached B, and promised to
be q good customer. He seemed to like
me, too, and after three or four weeks,
knowing that he was all alone and in
strange town, l invited him to my
mothers house to play me game OF
checkers. He came, and all the
family felt we'll toward him on first
sight. He was well learned, a gentle
man in speech and demeanor, and l
felt friendship for him at once. A
He came again and again, and he
found a,warm welcome each time. He
also came into the bank quite often,
sometimes increasing his balance and
sometimes checking out, and on several
occasions dropped into. his office in q
friendly way. He never asked ques-
ton about the bank affairs, nor did he
exhibit much curiosity in any direction.
Our acquaintance was begun in Sep
tember and lasted to the 10th day of
March. On the 18th of March OBJ
served two strangers in Dowd's Office
in conversation with him, but this was a
simple incident, to be forgotten in an
hour. Just before the closing of
banking hours he came in and checked
out his balance which was about six